Chris Brown’s trial to go ahead

Lawyers for Brown claimed the singer should be cleared of all charges because prosecutors abused the grand jury process.

If convicted Chris Brown will face upto six months in prison and a fine of USD 1000. (Reuters)

Rapper Chris Brown’s request to have his assault charges dismissed has been rejected and his trial will go ahead on April 21.

The 24-year-old ‘Fine China’ hitmaker is accused of breaking Parker Adams’ nose when he tried to insert himself in a photograph that Brown was taking with two female fans outside the W Hotel in Washington DC last October.

Lawyers for Brown claimed the singer should be cleared of all charges because prosecutors abused the grand jury process, but judge Patricia Wynn ruled in court that his trial will go ahead later this month, reported CNN online.

Brown’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, argued prosecutors used the grand jury to ‘freeze’ the testimony of the alleged victim and claimed the incident is ‘the most investigated misdemeanour of all time.’ But the judge said prosecutors had a right to use the grand jury to assess the strength of their case, adding, “I am
persuaded that there was no abuse.”

The judge agreed to allow Brown and his bodyguard Chris Hollosy, who is also facing assault charges, to have separate trials after the latter’s lawyer said his client wants to testify as a witness for the star and couldn’t do so if they were tried at the same time.

Hollosy’s trail is set to begin on April 17 and Brown’s will take place afterwards. There will not be a jury as they are misdemeanour cases.

Brown was not present at the hearing as the US Marshals Service is still in the process of transporting him from Los Angeles to Washington but he will remain in jail in the city until the trial begins.

If convicted the entertainer faces a maximum of six months in jail and USD 1,000 fine, but he also faces up to four more years in jail in California as a result of violating the terms of his probation, stemming from his assault on Rihanna in 2009.